The invention relates to a surgical instrument with two legs movable relative to each other, a tip inserted in a receiving space at the distal end of the leg being exchangeably held at the free end of the legs, with a fixing device for releasable fixation to the leg, the fixing device comprising on one of the two parts two locking arms which are arranged next to each other and are elastically bendable apart, and comprising on the other one of the two parts a locking projection extending into the leg transversely to the direction of insertion of the tip, the locking projection, when inserting the tip into the receiving space of the leg, engaging between the two locking arms, bending these elastically apart, and at the end of the inserting movement, entering a recess on the inner side of the locking arms, so that the locking arms approach each other again after they have been elastically bent apart.
Surgical instruments of this kind are known. These are used as forceps or as clamping instrument, for example, and the tips therein are exchangeable. For example, surgical forceps are described in DE 20 2007 016 233 U1, in which the tip inserted in the receiving space of the leg is, on the one hand, rotated into the correct angular position in relation to the leg by means of special bearing surfaces, and, on the other hand, is fixed in the axial direction by a separate locking device. However, the structure is relatively complicated as separate means are required, on the one hand, for aligning the tip about the longitudinal axis of the leg and, on the other hand, for securing the tip against displacement in the longitudinal direction of the leg.
Forceps are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,860,882 B2, in which a tip is held exchangeably on a forceps body. To enable the locking arms of the forceps tip to spring out, the receiving space of the forceps body must be broken open at the sides. This results in a reduction in stability, and, in addition, there is a risk of soiling and injury occurring in this region of the openings.
The object of the invention is to simplify a generic surgical instrument in its structure and, in particular, to reduce soiling and risk of injury.